Go, Read: Near Week-Old PW Summary Article On Diamond Comics Summit Numbers And FCBD 2014 Figures
Here's an article I keep coming back to: Heidi MacDonald's round-up at PW of the figures that Diamond released in conjunction with their recent retailer summit in Las Vegas. There are basically two areas covered: state of the market and the success of this year's FCBD. The figures in and of themselves are interesting.

What they say to me is, first, that the surge of the last few years in terms of sales across the board in the Direct Market has diminished significantly, at least in terms of its momentum. This is led by an outright decline in serial comics sales over a similar period in 2013. Second, I still wonder if we'll ever get a sense of Free Comic Book Day as a tool to build business for the rest of the year, even though we have the sense now that the promotion itself is popular on the day it happens and depending on the store for a few days on either side. That's not necessarily a criticism; I'm more interested in what the event is rather than stake a position amenable to its supporters or its detractors.